The 2014 ACC football season got underway with a whimper, not a bang Thursday night with an anemic performance by Wake Forest at Louisiana-Monroe in coach Dave Clawson’s debut. The good news is that no matter what happens from here on out, it can’t help but be better.

Before everyone else kicks off on Saturday with an intriguing slate of opening week games, here are 10 bold predictions on what might be in store for the league during the next four months (don’t forget to save a copy so you can throw them back in my face later):

10. Miami won’t win the Coastal Division. Everyone keeps waiting for the Hurricanes to get their “swagger” back. But despite the usual raves about their talent and yet another first-place preseason prediction, it’s not going to happen again this year because of an absolute mess at the quarterback position and a typically suspect defense.

Freshman quarterback John Wolford was sacked seven times by ULM Thursday

9. Wake Forest will go 0 for the ACC. The Deacons better win next Saturday against Gardner-Webb, because if they don’t there’s a realistic possibility of the going 0-12. After the beating quarterback John Wolford took at ULM on Thursday, the biggest upset will be if the true freshman makes it through the entire season in one piece.

8. Mike London will be fired at Virginia, possibly before the season is over. The Cavaliers have some talent and should be improved. The problem is there aren’t a lot of wins on a schedule that includes nonconference games against UCLA and at BYU, along with crossover league opponents Florida State and Louisville. Remember, Tom O’Brien is already waiting in the wings.

7. Pittsburgh will this year’s surprise team. It’s probably too much to expect anyone to make the same kind of jump up the standings as Duke did last season. If any team is capable of it, though, it’s the Panthers, who quietly return some of the best offensive playmakers in the league, along with four of five starters on the offensive line.

6. If Florida State loses a game this season, it will be on the Thursday night before Halloween at Louisville. Crazy things frequently happen on Thursday nights with the national television spotlights on and the Cardinals are good enough to pull off the upset. If the Seminoles can get out of Louisville with a win, they’ll run the table and play for a second straight national title.

DE Lorenzo Mauldin is one reason why Louisville could surprise this season

5. Coach Bobby Petrino’s Cardinals will finish ahead of Clemson in the Atlantic Division. The injury to wide receiver DeVante Parker will hurt, but if new quarterback Will Gardner is as good as Petrino has touted, Louisville is poised to make a splash in its first ACC season.

4. DeShaun Watson will be Clemson’s starting quarterback, possibly as early as the Tigers’ fourth game. Cole Stoudt isn’t the future for the Tigers. Highly touted freshman Watson is. If Clemson is 1-3 after a tough opening stretch that includes games at Georgia and FSU, that future will begin on Sept. 27 vs. North Carolina.

3. Duke won’t suffer a significant drop-off, even after season-ending injuries to Kelby Brown and Braxton Deaver. The Blue Devils still have enough playmakers left on both sides of the ball – including the ACC’s leading receiver Jamison Crowder and the league’s top tackler David Helton – to win at least eight games and stay in the Coastal Division race until the bitter end.

2. Ryan Switzer will make more of an impact as a receiver than as a punt returner. Opposing teams simply won’t kick the ball to the UNC All-America enough for him to come close to last year’s five touchdown returns. His unique talent, however, will help Tar Heels’ make up for the loss of Eric Ebron and thrust him into greater stardom as a slot receiver.

Brissett

1. Jacoby Brissett will lead N.C. State to six wins and a bowl game. As bad as the Wolfpack was last season, it could easily have won six games and gone to a bowl with a competent quarterback. Now that State presumably has a competition quarterback – to go along with a very soft nonconference schedule – a three-game improvement is well within reach.